Cigarette-box



. LANGAN.

CIGARETTE BOX.

APPLICATION FILED APR.1, 1920.

Patented Sept. 14, 1920;

PATENT JOFFICE.

JAMES J. LANGAN, orivnw YORK, N. Y.

crennnirrnnox.

Application filed April 1,

To all whom it may concern:

citizen of the United States, residing at New York, in the county and Stateof New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in cigarette Boxes, of which the following is a full,'clear, and exact specification.

This invention relates to cigarette boxes or holders for personal use, and has for its object to provide simplified and improved means for retaining the cigarette in compact and upright arrangement at all times and no matter how many have been removed or remain, thus preserving the cigarettes in the box from breakage and always insuring ready access thereto.

The invention will be first hereinafter described in connection with the accompanying drawings, which constitute part of this specification, and then more'specifically defined in the claims at the end of the descrip tion.

In the accompanying drawings, wherein similar references are used to designate corresponding parts throughout the several views Figure l is a longitudinal vertical sectional view of a box constructed substantially in accordance with this invention, the. section being taken just behind the front wall of the box on the line 1-1 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 2 is a horizontal section on the line II-1I of Fig. 1, showing the box partially filled with cigarettes in solid lines and entirely filled in dotted lines, and

Fig. 3 is a transverse vertical section on the line III-III of Fig. 2, looking toward the follower.

The box 1 may be made of tin or other suitable material in the usual form and dimensions so as to hold a given number of cigarettes 2 on end side by side in a single row, although said box may be made wider to accommodate more than one row if desired. A cover 8 for the box may be hinged, as at 4, at one end and have a spring or snap catch 5 at the other end.

To hold the cigarettes in the box in compact and upright position no matter-how many remain therein, a follower 6 is arranged across one end of the box and is yieldingly pressed against the adjacent cigarette so as to push it as far as it will go toward the opposite end of the box. An elastic rubber strip 7 is employed for ex Be it known that I, JAMES J. LANGAN, a i

I i Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Sept; 14,1920.

1920.. Serial No. 370,509.

erting this yielding pressure upon the follower, whereby sufiicient pressure is developed for the purpose-but not too much or enough to break the cigarettes or interfere with tlieir removal when desired. A single strip "of the elastic may be used, the same 1 being attached at its ends to one end of the box adjacent the opposite sides thereof, as at 8. The intermediate portion of said rubber strip extends from the points of attachment 8 across the inner faces of the sides of the box and through loops 9 secured to the other end of said box also adjacent the sides thereof, thence back across the sides of the box and around the outer face of the follower where said strip is retained in proper position by loops 10. The edges of the follower have notches 11 formed therein to permit the strip to pass it back and forth across the sides of the box without binding or causing frictional wear upon said strip. By reason of the overlapping portions of the rubber strip when the follower is in retracted position, there is ample resiliency in said strip to hold it with proper pressure against the-last cigarette left in the box. At the same time, the pressure exerted by said rubber strip is not strong enough to interfere with the follower being drawn back and held while the box is being filled with cigarettes.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is 1. In a cigarette box, the combination with a follower fitted to slide in the storage space therein, of tensioned elastic strips extending across the box transversely of the opposite edges of said follower and at the opposite sides of the storage space in the box, each of said elastic strips being overlapped upon itself, one end thereof being fastened to one end of the box, the other end fastened to the follower and the intermediate portion slidably connected to the other end of the box, whereby the tension on each strip, when cigarettes are stored between the follower and the end said strips have sliding connection, will be distributed throughout the length of said strip.

2. In a cigarette box, the combination with a follower fitted to slide in the storage space therein, of tensioned elastic strips extending across the box transversely of the opposite edges of said follower and at the of the box with which opposite sides of the storage space in the box, and loops at one end of the box at opposite sides of the storage space, each of said elastic strips being overlapped upon itself, one end thereof being fastened to the end of the box opposite to that having the loops, the other end of said strip being fastened to the follower and the intermediate portion of said strip s lidably connected with one of said loops 011 the box, whereby the tension on each strip, when cigarettes are stored between the follower and the end of the box having the loops, will be distributed throughout the length of said strip.

In a cigarette box, the combination with a follower fitted to slide in the storage space therein, of tensioned elastic strips extending across the box transversely of the opposite edges of said follower and at the opposite sides of the storage space in the box, each of said elastic strips being overlapped upon itself, one end thereof being fastened to one end of the box, the other end fastened to the follower and the intermediate portionslidably connected to the other end of the box, whereby the tension on each strip, when cigarettes are stored between the follower and the end of the box with which saidstrips have sliding connection, will" be distributed throughout the length of said strip, said follower having notches in its ed es for clearance of said strips.

in testimony whereof I have signed my name this specification.

JAMES J.. LANGAN. 

